WataMote Episode 09
is the ninth episode of the anime adaption of WataMote. The episode was written by Takayo Ikami and directed by Yoshinobu Tokumoto. It aired in Japan on September 2, 2013. Synopsis Tomoko sits alone at night in her room staring at her calendar as she contemplates that she has only ten more days of her summer break. Happily, the following day she will meet Yū. As she plans her clothes for the next day, she receives a call from Yū which shocks her as the scene flows into the opening titles. After the titles, Yū apologizes on the phone for breaking their movie date. Inwardly, Tomoko panics as a single tear form. As Yū keeps asking her to respond, Tomoko can only wonder if Yū is abandoning her: was it because she sent an email asking Yū what kind of panties she is wearing, or attached "that 'dirty mind test' picture?" She also recalls calling Yū to play shiritori "with dirty words." As Tomoko inwardly castigates herself for missing the signs that Yū would end their friendship, Yū keeps calling her name. Finally, Tomoko listens and Yū explains that she has to help out at her uncle's café due to an illness affecting a few of his workers. Yū offers to treat her to some cake if she visits the café the next day. Tomoko agrees to visit the day after tomorrow which leaves her a day to waste playing games. Tomoko visits the very fancy café. Seeing all of the couples, Tomoko feels out of place, but Yū invites her in. The inside is bathed in anime light with sparkling doilies. Tomoko is stunned by how beautiful Yū looks in her uniform that accentuates her "assets." Yū crouches to face Tomoko who fears she has been caught staring at Yū's "assets." Tomoko stammers her compliments on her "cute" uniform. At her seat, Tomoko is further stunned by the French titles for the various pasteries and cakes. Yū encourages her to pick whichever she wants. Sweating, Tomoko randomly picks the サヴァラン・マセドリーヌ (Savarin Macédoine). As Yū leaves to attend to another customer, Tomoko thinks that while she spent the day before eating ice cream, playing games, and generally wasting time, Yū spent hers working in a "tendy" place, and Tomoko wonders if that explains their difference since entering high school. Yū comes by to gently wipe some cream off of Tomoko's cheek. Looking over Yū, Tomoko finds she is the type guys love. Since she still has a week, Tomoko feels she has the time to change. Back at the Kuroki Residence, Tomoko asks her mother if she knows anyone who makes cakes. Tomoko explains that she would like to work part-time. Taking the bait, her mother agree that is better than "lazing around" all summer. Her mother does have a friend who makes cakes. In her room, Tomoko overcome anticipating working the next day. She fantasizes herself as a buxom hostess in an old filmed anime where she spills a drink on the lap of a Hot Guy, has to wipe him, and returns to the present utterly excited. She admits that being asked to deal with customers on her first day is asking a lot. She returns to her fantasy anime where she squeezes icing on a cake as a Hot Guy chef approaches to help her, lick the creme off of her cheek, with him eventually covering her in creme a the "film" slows to a stop. Back in reality, Tomoko cannot wait. The scene shifts to Tomoko wrapped up in clothing which includes a mask as she works on a conveyor belt in a cake factory. Her mother's friend instructs her to place a chocolate tube garnish on the passing cakes. During the break, while most of her coworkers smoke, Tomoko sits stunned as her sad music plays. She moves outside to observe that "there was cake . . ." as the loud speakers call everyone back to work. Back at home, Tomoko collapses on the couch with the television playing a program where a woman and man discuss appliances. Realizing her break will soon come to an end, Tomoko wanders into a montage of failures that end with her job at the cake factory. The weather man predicts record temperatures. In the comfort of her air conditioning, Tomoko chortles at those who have to work. Her mother interrupts her to ask her to clean the bath. When Tomoko starts to protest, her mother sternly reminds her that she quit her job after one day and she otherwise spends her days "lazing around." Tomoko scrubs the bath whilst inwardly complaining. She cools herself down then emergence from the bath only to have her mother cheerfully ask her to clean the windows. Tomoko wonders why they are cleaning in the heat: "Is this New Year's." Her mother's anime aura of darkness surpasses hers as she informs her daughter that she cleans the house all the time. Tomoko tries to pass the work off on Tomoki, but her mother reminds her that he has high school entrance exams. In a volcanic anime scence, she reminds her recalcitrant daughter that she used the same excuse the year previously to make Tomoki do the housework. As only mothers can, she crushes her with her laziness and notes that "as a girl" she cannot even clean her own room. Tomoko flees to her brother's room, where she denounces him for cleaning it. She adds to her stunned brother that he even cooks. She rants how his actions makes her, his elder, look like a fool until her mother appears with a dark anime aura. Outside the home, a large cartoon "Conk!" (ゴン) appears indicating that, one again, her mother smacked her. The scene shifts to Tomoko sitting in a storage room holding her head, from which "steam" rises, as her mother angrily claims she does not have to help her, but she could at least tidy up her own things. Sweating, Tomoko resolves to finish cleaning as soon as possible to return to the air conditioning. While she inwardly denounces her brother for making her look bad, she one-by-one throws out toys from her childhood. At last she looks at a box of "Summer Trinkets." She finds the shells of cicadas. She initially freaks out, but then recalls the she and her brother, as young children, collected them. She discards them, finishes, but then discovers a notebook. It is a diary from her brother. Tomoko eagerly reads it hoping to find something embarrassing. She turns to a page titled "My Big Sister" (ぼくのおねえちゃん)。 Read in the voice of her brother as a child, the diary announces that he loves his sister who is "very nice" and always plays with him. She even helps their mother with housework. Tomoko looks for her brother. Her mother, much calmer now, tells her he left the house to go to the observatory with his friends to watch the meteor shower. After dinner, Tomoko lies on her best and inwardly curses her brother: "who cares about a meteor shower?" Her television announces that the meteor shower will be viewable at 10 P.M. in Japan. Tomoko makes her way to a convenience story where she purchases some instant ramen. She eats it on a park bench while looking at the sky. She wonders why the end of summer makes her so sad. While she notes she read that pain and sadness are the "spice" of life, she cries that all she ever receives is "spice" as a higurashi emerges from its shell. She forces herself to look up at the sky and feels better as the meteor shower begins. She feels she should make a wish. Eventually she wishes a boy would gaze with her while thinking that wish will never come true. She hears a noise in the bushes behind her. A cat appears. She gives the cat some of her snacks. When the cat starts to rub her legs, Tomoko becomes giddy, repeating "Kitty" (猫 ねこ neko) until she realizes it is a male cat. Tomoki returns home. He finds on his desk the molted skin of a higurashi ''and wonders what it means as the scene shifts to the Ending Theme. Afterwards, the cartoony Tomoki demands to know why she left a cicada shell on his desk and, more importantly, why did she enter his room. Tomoko dismisses his complaint by reminding him that the new term starts. Adapted From This episode is adapted from Chapters 18, 29, and 32. Referbacks *Tomoko's reminiscence of Jun Ishimine and her mother leaving her room after hearing her rather salacious mix of his voice with hers comes from Episode 7. *Tomoko performing the ''dogeza before Kosaka and playing a card game comes from Episode 8. *Tomoko's vision of her brother references her "mug shot" in the opening titles. Characters In order of appearance *Tomoko Kuroki *Yū Naruse *Mrs. Kuroki *Mrs. Kuroki's Friend (unnamed) *Jun Ishimine (flashback) *Kosaka (flashback) *Tomoki Kuroki Trivia *Without revealing the month, the date the episode opens on is "WED 21." Since High School Summer Breaks typically run from July 20 to August 31, and Tomoko admit she has only ten more days of vacation, this places the date as August 21. That date fell on a Wednesday in 2003. *The "Mind Test" picture is rather famous and, ultimately, tame. *The cafe Yū works at is called Cafe Olive. *'Menu of ''Cafe Olive: written in ''hirigana ''to approximate the French. *Savarin Macédoine:' "Savarin " is "a spongelike cake leavened with yeast, baked in a ring mold, and often soaked with a rum syrup," while macédoine is "a mixture of fruits or vegetables." ''Bon appétit! *'Tomoko's ''Anime:' is titled 私がモテすぎるのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い! (''Watashi ga mote sugiru no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!) "No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Too Popular!" *Tomoko's scrubbing references Space Invaders with the "aliens" represented by the kanji for "germs" (菌 きん kin) and her sponge shooting the sound of "scrub" (ゴシ goshi). *They use a frame for frame reference to a scene from K-ON! when Tomoko is going through old objects. *The X-Files theme song when she looks at a Möbius strip she made. *Cygnid Meteor Shower Cultural References *''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' SEELE reference on Tomoko's phone when Yū calls. *Shiritori(しりとり): a Japanese word game based on the final kana of the previous word. So when Tomoko says "Sao" (竿さお)--"rod"--Yū responds with "oppai" (おっぱい)--"breasts." *One Touch Noodle Memorable Moments *Yū's Uniform: for purely cultural reasons. *Tomoko's anime. *Tomoko still blames others for her problems and failures. When Tomoko screams at her brother, she lists things he does that she should do if she were more mature and responsible. She concedes that when she denounces him for making his elder appear the fool. She later complains about her mother's wrath wondering why "such things happen" to her. Quotes *"Because I sent her that weird email?" what kind of panties are you wearing?" – Tomoko *"A considerate nature guys love, accentuated boobs. . . ." – Tomoko describing Yū. *"'Final episode'? That was fast. . ." – Tomoko fantasizing about her own ''anime.'' *"Go ahead and work, corporate slaves!" – Tomoko *"You're a girl, yet you don't even clean your room!" – Tomoko's Mom *"How dare you make a fool of me when you're the younger brother?!" – Tomoko *"That brought back a memory I could've done without." – Tomoko *"I read in some book that pain and sadness are the spice of life that makes it enjoyable." – Tomoko Gallery 5454353.png|Tomoko's reaction to Yū telling her she cannot hang out that day. Tomoko_Mind_Test_E9.png|Tomoko's "Mind Test." Tomoko and Yuu.png|Tomoko and Yū at the cafe. Savarin Macédoine E9.png|Savarin Macédoine Tomoko stares at Yuu's assets.png|Tomoko stares directly at Yū's assets. Tomoko_Anime_E9.png|Tomoko's Imagined Anime. Tomoko_in_Her_Anime_E9.png|Tomoko in her own anime. Tomoko_Cake_Maker_E9.png|Tomoko's Requiem for a Dream Hahaoya Kuroki.png|Tomoki's mother scolds her about cleaning the house. Tomoko_Space_Invaders_Cleaning_E9.png|Tomoko's scrubbing as Space Invaders. Tomoko's_Mom's_Aura_of_Doom_E9.png|Tomoko's Mom's Aura of Doom 453453453453.png|Tomoko finds her and her brothers old collection of cicadas. Tomoki and Tomoko.png|Tomoki and Tomoko playing together as young children. Tomoko and a cat.png|Tomoko finds a cat to watch the meteor shower with. Tomoko watches the meteor shower.png|Tomoko watches the meteor shower. Navigation Category:Episodes